Books are a great way – and also my favorite way – to first get into a new topic. It’s how I first learnt about spirituality when my mom introduced me to one of the books below. They introduce you to topics you’re not that familiar with and help you slowly learn more and more. Books are so different. They talk about different aspects with different stories, some fictional, some based on science and some based on personal experiences. They take you with them on journeys and help you learn in various ways – all with their own personal character. You will like certain books more than others, some might help you solve a specific problem and others enable you to dive deeper. Whatever they’ll do for you, these are some books that have fascinated me and have accompanied me on my journey towards Spirituality.
1. The Alchimist
I had to list my favorite book of all times at the top. The story is fictional and shows the journey of a young sheperd you wants to follow a dream he had. In his dream, he found gold under the Pyramid of Gizeh. On his journey, many things go wrong, it seems. But throughout the story he learns more and more about destiny, our own personal journey, how one thing leads to another and how in the end everything turns out in our best favour. And sometimes, we recognize that everything is connected and had to happen, in order for the rest of our story to be able to unfold as well. The Alchimist is a great love story too, written by one of my favourite authors, Paulo Coelho.
2. Way of the Peaceful Warrior
This is the book I mentioned in the introduction. My mom was a big fan of this book – for a good reason. Here, a college student makes the encounter of a man that works at a gas station called Socrates. Throughout the book he teaches him countless lessons that transform him into a different man, one who lives in the moment, learnt to appreciate every part of his life, to control his mind, to not let his mood be controlled by outside circumstances. He gets frustrated many times but eventually realizes how much value those lessons hold and how they can lead him to enlightenment. The book is a mix of fiction and autobiography, written by Dan Millman, a great spiritual teacher.
3. Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior
Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior is the second part of the peaceful warrior serious. Here, Dan encounters a different mentor, in Hawai’i. She teaches him about our three Selves that form who we are, about the seven chakras – the energy centers of the body, about soulmates, about our purpose and much more. These books are written were close to the reader, I was able to feel and live the story together with Dan. It felt good to be able to learn a lot through books written by people who are wiser than me and have lived a little longer than me 😉 I had the realization that everything around us is so much bigger than we are, but still, everything is connected. We do have a purpose on earth! But it takes dedication to find it.
4. Siddharta
This book taught me how important it is not to get lost in a world of consumerism. Nowadays, we focus so much on making money, accumulating things, impressing others and living a wealthy lifestyle – only because we’re addicted to consumerism. Siddharta too was drawn to this but only later on realized how much living this kind of life disconnected him from his soul, his childhood, his values. He was born a prince and a respected and educated man, he then turned to ascetism, where he lived in nature for years, only thinking and meditating, living off of nothings but what nature has to offer. He eventually went to a big city, became addicted to money, food and sex. In the end he found out what was really important. A moving book by Hermann Hesse.
5. The Secret
This one I read on vacation in Greece and let’s say it amazed me. The Secret talks about the Law of Attraction and how we can manifest everything we desire into our lives. The topic of manifestation got really big right at the time I read the book. And I have to say, I don’t think manifesting is an easy thing to do. There are many strategies, but not all of them word. The Secret however, explained the entire concept in a very convincing way. When I was done reading this book, there were no doubts for me whatsoever that this concept works! I definitely have to read it again. As do you 😉
6. Becoming Supernatural
Becoming supernatural, a book written by the physicist Dr. Joe Dispenza, goes really into detail on the topic energy, vibrations and how they can control our health, our manifestations, our emotions and much more. He explains many spiritual phenomena in a scientifical way – with brain scans etc. He tells us how we’re able to heal our body through our mind, how we can control our emotions and therefore how we perceive our entire lives, how we can connect with our higher beings and much more. This book is definitely an eye opener, but more on the heavy side.
7. Journey of Souls
This is another of my favorite books and (almost) made me cry several times. The psychologist Dr. Michael Newton works with hypnotherapy where he puts his clients into a state where he can ask them about the experiences they made after they died – many of them had near-death experiences and came back to life. They explained to him how it works in the spirit world – the place we go between death and rebirth. I learnt about my soul clusters, my soulmates, how we choose out bodies and why, what lessons we have to learn, how we are connected to others over thousands of years and what that all has to do with our Karma.
8. Destiny of Souls
In his second book, Dr. Michael Newton really went into detail. In his first book, he explained how things work in the bigger picture. But here, he explains what exactly we do after we die, what kind of activities we like to engage in, what the ‘architecture’ looks like in the spirit world, how we ‘age’ as souls and change colors, what happens when we commit suicide, what other planets we like to go to, how we can rest and recreate and much more. It’s a super interesting read if you want to know more about life after death. It will flabbergast you a few times, I promise 😉
9. If the Buddha dated
Charlotte Kasl, the author, illustrates which spiritual laws and rules we are best to follow when we want to lead a successful dating life. She tries to bring us closer why it’s better to let go of the ego and instead look for connection, where our priorities should be, what some spiritual solutions could be to certain problems, what to do when we can’t seem to find the one and much more. Something that sometimes was a little confusing to me, was how spirituality deals with intimacy and how we can bring the two together. (You know, with sex being a sin in religion and all that). But she helped me look at it from a different perspective and definitely brought me a lot of peace.
10. The Dalai Lama’s Cat
If you love cats as much as I do, this book will definitely be for you. The story is about a kitten that got rescued by the Dalai lama. Because she is so beautiful, she tends to be a little entitled. But there is no way she could live with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and not learn many spiritual lessons. She discovers what it takes to have a pure heart and a good character, why it’s important to stay true to our values, to not be selfish, help others and live a fulfilling life. This book touches on some core aspects of Buddhism but leads us to them through an adorable fictional story with a cute little kitty as the protagonist. It’s the perfect book to read on vacation or at night in bed. It will make you feel good, I tell you that!
I hope you’ll consider some of my suggestions the next time you buy a book!
See you soon, Valentina <3
